treetops

A day suffused with late summer's light and activity and emotion. First thing in the morning we took our oldest to the airport, as he is headed back to school - we'll see him again at Thanksgiving, which seems an impossible distance in the future. Later in the day, to please our youngest geologist, we went for a walk in Frick Park, looking for outcroppings of shale and limestone, and maybe even fossils. Wandered around in a creek bed, turned small rocks over, climbed a tiny waterfall, scared a crayfish, walked on logs, and so on. A grand and slightly muddy time. No certain fossils, but broken ceramic culvert pieces were temporarily mysterious, and the kids saw a frog, too. Stopped for ice cream after. Then in the evening, we went to the last concert of jazz at the reservoir and shared a picnic with friends. Painted this while listening to the band play, "Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?" which they offered as a prayer for the safety of those in the path of the coming storm. So much to worry about, so much to be grateful for, so much to be done tomorrow, when suddenly it will be September.